Two trustys from the Slidell City Jail were arrested this week and charged with simple escape when they failed to report back to the jail after being given two weeks of freedom during hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Michael T. Chance, 26, and Fletcher Burton, 19, along with eight other trustys were given two weeks freedom Aug. 30, two days before Hurricane Gustav hit Slidell.

Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said that after Katrina, the department decided it would be easier and cheaper to let the trustys go and find their own shelter instead of police taking care of them. Trustys are non-violent offenders who perform various duties around the city like repairing and painting city buildings, doing landscape work on city property and picking up trash.

“We didn’t want to house and feed them if this turned into another Katrina,” Foltz said. All the other prisoners were transported to the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Covington. Foltz said that during Katrina, trustys were not given a two-week furlough, and they ended up being crowded into the St. Tammany and Pearl River jails for over two years until the flooded Slidell jail was repaired and renovated early last year.

The 10 trustys released just before Gustav were told to return on Sept. 15. Foltz said nine trustys, including Burton, reported back to the jail on time. However, Burton only stayed a few hours and then left again.

“He decided he didn’t want to stay,” Foltz said.

Slidell police put out a parishwide alert on Chance and Burton. On Sept. 16, two St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who were familiar with Burton’s activities went to his house on Poplar Street in Slidell and found both Burton and Chance. According to the Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. George Bonnett, the deputies then called an officer from the Slidell jail, who went to Burton’s house and identified both as the escaped men. The deputies transported both to the Slidell jail, where they were booked and jailed.

Ironically, Burton had only two days left on his sentence before being released. Now he faces up to six more months in jail, and he will not be allowed back into the trusty program. The same punishment applies to Chance, Foltz said.

Burton was serving time in jail for possession with intent to distribute marijuana after a May arrest. Chance was in jail on a burglary charge.

Foltz doesn’t think the incident will prevent the department from letting trustys out of jail for two weeks if another hurricane hits the area.

“One out of 10 is a good record,” Foltz said. “And the trustys are all non-violent prisoners. It’s not like we let a serial killer loose.”